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Pinterest SEO | How to Outsmart Your Competitors

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Today, the majority of brands understand that Pinterest is a powerful platform that can enhance their digital presence when used correctly. As the platform continues to evolve and transform into a unique and visual search engine, brands (especially e-commerce) need to learn how to keep up and leverage the social tool in their favor.

“I know that I need to leverage Pinterest, but how?” may be rolling through your head. We are here to tell you it can be done with a strategy in place. Without further ado, let’s review a few valuable tactics that can help your company outsmart your competitors on Pinterest.

What is Pinterest SEO?

First things first, you need to define Pinterest SEO. Pinterest SEO is similar to “traditional” search engine optimization (SEO) in that it encompasses creative and technical elements that can help improve your brand's ranking within search and ultimately bypass competitors in the process. This includes keyword rich descriptions, visually appealing images that are sized to fit within the platform, properly named boards, etc.

Why Pinterest SEO Is Crucial for Your Brand

With over 175 million active Pinterest users continually searching for information and advice, brands can’t ignore the value that the social platform can provide. With that being said, the hard numbers cannot lie. Today, the half-life of a tweet is approximately 15 minutes, meaning the first half will see the tweet within 15 minutes of being posted and the other half may see it over the next few hours. Now onto Facebook and Instagram; the half-life of a Facebook and Instagram post is about 8 hours. In a display of true value, Pinterest’s half-life is approximately 3 to 4 months. Due to the nature of the Pinterest platform and the algorithm they use, pins can live on forever. This leaves an array of marketing and creative possibilities for brands.

How to Leverage Pinterest SEO for Your Business?

Now that you have a better understanding of what Pinterest SEO is and how it can be valuable to your brand let’s take a look at the key tactics that can help your brand rank in Pinterest search better than your competitors.

Pinterest SEO Tactic #1 | Perform Keyword Research

Before beginning the implementation of Pinterest SEO, you will need to do a bit of legwork. First on the list is keyword research to ensure you’re using the right verbiage for your brand. A great place to start is Google’s Keyword Planner. This tool will help garner keyword and ad group ideas to show what people are searching for and how they are searching. Once you have done that, another great place to do keyword research is on Pinterest. If you are curious about a particular category or topic, try searching for it on Pinterest and see what populates. From there, see how people are discussing the topics and think about how you can leverage it in your own way.

Pinterest SEO Tactic #2 | Optimize Your Profile

Next up, is optimizing your Pinterest profile’s description. This may seem like an obvious step, but the best way to outrank your competitors is to utilize the keywords and verbiage they use but in a unique and creative way. Be sure to include terminology that has high search volume and also gives a great overview of who your company is and why they should follow along with you and your content.

Pinterest SEO Tactic #3 | Enhance Pin Descriptions & Images

In addition to optimizing your brand’s profile for keyword rich descriptions, it is important to enhance your Pinterest pins’ descriptions and images. The best-performing pins are eye-catching, branded (with your company’s logo, etc.) and are at least 238 pixels wide. We have found longer images, such as infographics, perform best and be sure to provide short descriptions for your users to quickly read while scrolling.

Pinterest SEO Tactic #4 | Elevate Your Boards’ Descriptions

One of the biggest mistakes brands make when creating various boards is not investing enough time and strategy. When it comes to board descriptions you need to pay attention to detail and create interesting and keyword rich titles and images. This is where Pinterest SEO comes into play. Have you ever put a query into search and found the boards for which you were looking? This is all thanks to the right keywords having been implemented by the brand.

Pinterest SEO #5 | Pin from Other Industry Influencers & Frequently

When it comes to Pinterest SEO, regularly pinning from other industry influencers is just as important as pinning your own content. For large companies, like Target, Crate & Barrel and Best Buy, pinning your own articles and products is great, but for those companies who are a bit smaller and trying to make a splash in a big pond, you have to start out as a resource and show your value. One way to accomplish this is by sharing what tends to be reliably successful content, like that shared by large companies. This helps your brand's Pinterest SEO and ensures your boards and pins will populate in search.

Want to Take Your Pinterest Presence to the Next Level?

Blue Compass can help! Our digital experts can help your brand shine through leading SEO techniques. What are you waiting for? Contact us today.